Masa Nakayama, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetMasa Nakayama
Japanese politician, first female cabinet minister
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan
About Masa Nakayama
- Masa Nakayama (?? ??, Nakayama Masa, January 19, 1891 – October 11, 1976) was a Japanese politician, who was the first woman appointed to the Cabinet of Japan when she became Minister of Health and Welfare in 1960.She was born Masa Iida-Powers in Nagasaki, the daughter of Rodney H.
- Powers, an American businessman, and his Japanese partner, Naka Iida.
- Masa attended Kwassui Jogakko, a mission school run by American Methodist missionaries.
- She also studied at Ohio Wesleyan University in the United States, graduating in 1916 and starting a distinguished career in education prior to the outbreak of World War II.In 1947, she was elected as a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet, representing the second district of Osaka Prefecture for the LDP as part of Hayato Ikeda's government.
- In 1960, she became the first woman appointed to the Cabinet of Japan when she was made Minister of Health and Welfare.
- She served as a minister for five months, stepping down in December 1960.
- Nakayama retired from the Diet in 1969, and was succeeded in her seat by her son, Masaaki.She was married to Fukuzo Nakayama, who was also a politician and served in the lower house from 1932 to 1942, and later in the upper house.
- Their sons are Representative Taro Nakayama and Representative Masaaki Nakayama.
- Representative Yasuhide Nakayama is their grandson and Masaaki's son. Nakayama died of throat cancer at an Osaka hospital on October 11, 1976, aged 85.
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